Disclaimer: I do not own World of Tanks or RWBY.

"See," Cardin said with a smirk, "I told you guys they're real!"

He tugged at the Faunus girl's ears again, her pained expression and the laughter of his teammates making him smirk even more. Thrush put in, "I don't believe it. Pull a little harder and it'd come off."

"P-Please, stop," the girl begged. Cardin snorted, then planted his leg on the bench of the table, to better leverage himself as he pulled harder. Faintly, he thought he was actually managing to pull it out, and murmured, "Huh?"

"Come on!" Dove said, "Lemme have a turn!"

"Don't," the girl murmured, tears in her eyes. Promptly, Cardin pulled harder, noting, "It really is coming looser!"

He was about to pull even harder, when he abruptly heard a few footsteps- the sort of well-disciplined, rhythmic footsteps that the teachers had. Quickly, he let go, excusing, "C'mon, professor, we were just..."

He trailed off, being greeted not by the sight of one of his teachers, but by someone who somehow horrified him more. Cardin recognized the tubby boy in the black costume instantly, as that- the stupid, dumb, fatso kid who hadn't had an Aura and had stepped into the ring anyway. In the back of his mind, the bully had hoped that everyone had forgotten it- but now, here was proof of the murder he'd committed.

"Was ist das Ding?" the boy asked. Another one of him- not quite the same, a bit more lean and a bit more tall, but in the same outfit- came out from the first's side, like they'd been walking behind them. Cardin hesitated a moment, wondering what sort of dream he was having where they were two of the person he'd killed.

"Uh... Faunus," Thrush answered, "That Faunus."

Cardin looked at Thrush, who was pointing at the girl, and realized that the dead boy who'd come back to life was real. Along, presumably, with the second one... and now a third one who'd also come, again a little different, but in about the same outfit. Quietly, Cardin murmured, "How..."

"Das ist ein Faunus?" the boy asked, pointing at the girl. The girl nodded, "I-"

"Schweigen!" the boy yelled, then said, in a joking manner, "Ich hatte gedacht, es würde einfach 'Mittagessen' heissen. Aber andererseits hatte ich noch nie Hasen."

The one behind laughed at the joke, and the girl got up to leave. Immediately, Cardin grabbed her, and the second one cut in front of the girl's path. The third pointed out, "Sie ist ein Mädchen. Offensichtlich ist das nur irgendein Kostüm, und diese Jungs halten dich für einen Narren."

"Du solltest auf deine Zunge aufpassen, Schlange!" the second retorted, and the first huffed, "Ist das echt?"

"C'mon, get back to it!" Dove encouraged, getting impatient with how Cardin was still standing around dumbly, "Or let me have a turn!"

"Ein wahres Ohr wird bluten!" the first yelled-

Pop!

-and in a split second, managed to get out a pistol, raise it directly against the girl's ear, and fire. The girl cried out, trying to drop to the floor, and instead whimpering even more when the motion pulled her ear more against Cardin's grip. From the now-stretched rabbit ear, a trail of dark blood started dripping down, and the first laughed as he said, "Es ist real. Es ist real!"

"Oh, I've always wanted to meet a real Faunus!" Thrush said, "My dad made sure I learned how to keep 'em nice and obedient!"

"Stop!" the girl cried out. The first boy took the other ear, and the third stopped, "Sie ist nur ein Mädchen. Das ist falsch."

"Das ist kein Mensch, das ist unter einem Menschen!" the first barked, "Fragen Sie jetzt, was ihre Pläne sind, und übersetzen Sie!"

The second abruptly pulled out yet another pistol, adding, "JETZT!"

"Would you bunch of foreigners shut it?" Dove demanded, "We got here first, it's ours to play with!"

"This is wrong," the third boy pointed out, and Cardin retorted, "You're wrong!"

Promptly, he thrust his mace forward, catching the boy in the stomach. His body folded around the mace for a moment, before flying forward and away, eventually stopping and folding half-backward against a table.

Pop-pop-pop!

The second promptly put a trio of rounds into his direction, and Cardin paled, once again seeing crimson blood stain a black uniform.

-Elsewhere

"Well, then," Gladys murmured, staring at the freshly-dead body, "I... suppose we don't need to keep saving the cup on Otto's account."

"Didn't need to in the first place," Ribbans shot. Gladys sighed at that, and Emma questioned, "Are we going to do something about it?"

Gladys paused, then nodded, "I... do suppose that we have the multi-kit to use, if you could go grab it. Rather fitting, I should think, to pay the debt in just the same manner as it was made."

"Why would we do that?" Ribbans objected, and Carney pointed out, "We do rather owe the good loader."

"He's a Kraut," Ribbans bickered, "And we pay him back by dealing with him hanging about all the bloody time."

"I meant the rabbit being pushed about!" Emma interjected, pointing out the still-going bullying. A moment of hesitation passed, before Carney noted, "I'd rather thought someone else would have acted up by now."

"I had too, what with them being supposed heroes and all," Gladys nodded, "Though I suppose that this wouldn't have started in the first place by that logic."

"Fair," Carney agreed, and Emma put in, "So, we'll be the ones who do it."

Gladys blinked, then informed, "I... ah... haven't you, h-had enough of that sort of fighting today?"

"Do you want to help or are you going to have us faff about?" Emma shot. Gladys paused, then retorted, "I... ah... don't think we should. Rather a lot of trouble we could get in."

"What?" Emma balked, and Carney noted, "I should think the trouble of saving a young girl from being assaulted is well worth having."

"Well, ah, I don't," Gladys said, "Besides which-"

"Oh, to hell with that!" Ribbans shot, "We've got a good excuse to have a go at the Hun! Let's have at it!"

Before the commander could object, he got up and ran off. Emma huffed, "Had wanted to get the Besa first."

And with that, she got up and ran off, too. Gladys glanced at her driver, who stared back for a moment, before sighing and saying, "You'll have to hold this against me."

He then calmly got up and walked over. Gladys watched him leave for a moment, then turned away, murmuring, "I-I suppose... that we won't... any of us, ah, be needing the set out..."

Humming, she started putting the tea away, looking over her shoulder every once in a while as the fight started and developed. None of it came anywhere near her by the time she had it all packed up, but she still felt the need to do a sort of half-jog out of the cafeteria and to where the tanks were parked... whereupon she saw two Krauts, one in the driver's position of the Panzer III, the other stood just outside. The two of them- Karl and Jerry, she realized- were bickering just next to their tank, and Gladys stared for a moment, then decided to try and sidle past quietly.

Not even two steps in, Karl looked abruptly away from the argument and at her, and demanded, "What do you want?"

"Oh, I was just putting the tea set away," Gladys answered, and Jerry questioned, "Ich dachte, sie wäre die Kommandantin?"

"Your commander is in there," Gladys informed, trying to guess what the question meant, "He's started a rather large scuffle, too."

Karl sighed, then nodded, "We know."

"Well, then, I... suppose I can't fault you being cowards about this," Gladys said, to which Karl promptly objected, "We aren't cowards."

Gladys pointed out, "Then why, might I ask, are you out here?"

Karl huffed, then retorted, "And you?"

"I'm out here... because I..." Gladys said, trailing off, "I'm simply... getting the kit, to patch up- well, it was for your loader, but I suppose now I'll have to use it to mend my own."

Calmly, she set the tea set on the engine deck and pulled herself up and onto it, while Jerry asked, "Was ist los?"

"Schweigen," Karl shot, then noted, "You would need a second one, then? And we need to not be caught."

Gladys paused, and Karl explained, "If you shot us, and took our kit... then Jerry and I would be victims of a fiendish ambush. You would be a brave and bold commander. And we all would be the better for it."

Gladys hesitated, then pointed out, "Neither of you have a gun, do you?"

"Do you want the MP40?" Karl asked, "Or the hull-MG?"

Gladys noted, "You have this rather planned out."

"A good gunner knows to think quickly," Karl retorted, "Now, will you do it?"

Gladys hesitated, then nodded. Karl smirked, then turned to his companion and informed, "Ich weiß, wie ich den Zorn des Kommandanten vermeiden kann, schliessen Sie einfach die Augen."

Gladys sighed to herself, then got into her cupola. Quickly, she grabbed the tea set, barely managing to reach it from over the turret, then held it above her head and awkwardly got on her knees to get it inside. Once inside, she simply set it on Emma's seat, then picked up the multi-kit and stood back up outside the turret. Quietly, she got out of the Cruiser, and just as her boots came back down on the dirt, Karl emerged from the other tank, now holding an MP40. Promptly, Gladys walked over and offered her hand to the man, who ignored it and simply leapt down, groaning slightly as he hit the ground.

"Karl?" Jerry murmured, and Karl instructed, "Take this, use it on him first."

He thrust the submachine gun roughly out at Gladys, who awkwardly wrapped her arm around it, then murmured, "I-Is... is the safety off?"

"Yes," Karl shot, and Gladys asked, "And, ah... I believe it's loaded, but-"

"Just do it!" Karl yelled, and Jerry demanded, "Was machst du?"

Gladys nodded a little, then adjusted her hands as properly she knew how- her right by the trigger, her left gripping what she thought was a long grip but was, in fact, the magazine, and her shoulder not anywhere near the stock. Above all, though, her grip was shaky, as she held the cold steel in her hands. Quietly, she looked up at Karl, then pointed the gun in his direction, murmuring, "R-Right... I..."

She trailed off, eyes glancing between the gun and the man, before murmuring, "Qu-Quite... odd, doing this p-person-to-person..."

As she stared at Karl, she first thought of how she should be killing him, but her mind quickly jumped from that to memories of her own painful death. She bit her lip, trying to focus herself and stop her hands shaking, but instead found herself more distracted, the pain causing her to think more of death. Jerry sighed and murmured, "Ich schlafe fast ein..."

He trailed off, staring at Gladys in surprise, who stared back a moment, then dropped the gun, muttering, "I-I can't do this. I can't, I can't... I'm not... n-not cut out for..."

She sighed shakily, then ran off. Jerry asked, "Warum hatte sie das?"

Karl simply sighed in response.

-A bit later

Emma sighed, standing before the door to her usual history class with no one beside her. The thought entered her mind, for a moment, of simply not going. She knew Gladys would buy a story of everyone being killed, and so it seemed a possibility... but quickly, the loader shook her head, then approached the door and entered. So convicted in her decision was she that she didn't even look about before she sat in her usual spot, letting out a quiet huff as preparation for speaking to her commander, then turning and finding that she wasn't there.

Quickly, Emma swept her gaze further to the right, and then all the way to the left, scanning the whole room. All around were the usual furnishings and students that came with the second-to-last class of the day, save for every other tank crewman. The Germans were all incapacitated, she knew; her Besa had torn through their uniforms and flesh like paper. It'd been a glorious sight, and less glorious was seeing Carney and Ribbans be turned practically to jelly by overwhelming physical blows.

Emma swallowed bitterly, then shook her head, clearing it of the memory of having to surrender to those bullies. Instead, she thought about where Gladys was. Emma had seen her leaving; she'd figured the commander was absent. Now, though, she couldn't help but wonder whether she'd come back at some point. Skeptically wonder, mind you; as she waited about for the second bell, Emma also waited for Gladys to come through the door with an apology for being late.

A few minutes passed, and no such thing occurred. Instead, a pair of Krauts entered the room, to Emma's great surprise. She glared at them as they walked past. Finally, she shrugged, then returned to staring at the doorway. A long while passed-

Br-Ri-Ri-Ing!

-and the bell abruptly sounded. Emma blinked in surprise, then swept her gaze around again; still, she didn't see Gladys anywhere. As the teacher started lecturing, Emma found her mind drifting, wondering what had happened to the commander that would keep her. The thought occurred to Emma that she herself had done something to cause it, but only for a brief moment- it simply didn't make sense. It made sense, to Emma, that Gladys would be upset- but the loader had figured her commander would be angry more than anything, and that she certainly wouldn't skip a class.

Which, of course, left the possibility that Gladys wasn't around due to Emma's actions in another way; namely, that she was somewhere making excuses for her crew. After a moment of pondering, Emma sighed, and accepted that version of events. And after a moment more, it came to her that she really should be paying attention in class for Gladys' sake. The loader could paint a perfect picture in her mind of her commander, being more worried about possibly losing notes than she'd been with standing up for her own morals. And so, with a sigh, Emma shook her thoughts aside and turned her attention to the class.

What she was met with was simply a barrage of noise. For a few moments, Emma tried valiantly to pay attention. Her neck craned forward to get her ears a better vantage, and to better write on...

"Huh," the loader murmured, realizing that she didn't actually have a pencil or paper. For a moment, she thought about where she'd normally get it, trying to figure out why she didn't have it, and it was the first moment she'd ever thought about such things. It was also only a moment, before Emma came to the prompt and natural conclusion that lack of supplies exempted her from going through the motions that would normally use those supplies. And so, her craning neck slumped lower and lower down, while her arm came forward. The two finally came together, her elbow serving as a cushion, as the loader drifted off...

...and a while later, was woken by being gently shaken. Quietly, Emma raised her head, half-expecting to see that Gladys had finally come around. Instead, she was greeted to the sight of a blonde-haired boy, who murmured, "I guess Cardin didn't wake you up."

"Huh," Emma murmured. The boy sighed, then informed, "Class is over."

Emma glanced around, and the boy added, in a louder voice as if speaking to a third party, "Why didn't she get an assignment?"

"She's not a team leader and so I'll wait for her leader to show herself," a third party answered in a quick burst. The boy shrugged, then walked off, while Emma glanced around another time. Just as had been said, her leader wasn't there; the room was now empty, save for her, the green-haired teacher, and the departing boy. Groaning, Emma got up to join the boy in leaving, and just barely managed to get in close enough behind him that she didn't have to push the door. But, as she let the door fall shut behind her, Emma realized that she didn't know where to go. Gladys wasn't, after all, around to push her into the library- none of her crew was, in fact. So, with a shrug, the loader decided to head for the tank.

And it was there that the loader, like her commander before, found two Krauts. Just as before, it was Jerry in the driver's, turned out of the driver's position, and Karl- the only real difference was that they were now simply talking with one another rather than arguing. As she approached, Emma noted, "Suppose your commander's not about either, then."

Karl nodded, "Jawohl."

Abruptly, Jerry elbowed the gunner, who turned to the driver, fuming, "Wofür schubst du mich an?"

Emma ignored them, continuing on her way to the Cruiser while Jerry excitedly answered, "Sie ist ein Mädchen! Sie will in einem Panzer sein! Wir können es zum Üben benutzen- o-oder sie einfach holen!"

Karl paused a moment, staring at Emma as she hoisted herself onto the engine deck, then into the turret. Finally, he turned back to Jerry, who asked, "Warum hast du sie nicht aufgehalten?"

"Warum redest du nicht mit ihr?" Karl bickered, to which Jerry retorted, "Du kannst mit ihr reden!"

"Nein du! Es ist Ihre Idee!" Karl argued. Finally, Emma came back out, now bearing a tea set. The argument came to a halt, and silence filled the air in general as the loader clambered off the engine deck. Finally, Jerry elbowed Karl again, who elbowed the driver back. And a few moments after this, the silence actually stopped when Emma sighed, then noted, "Ribbans'll burn my knickers for this... but... I don't suppose you'd mind sharing a cuppa?"

The silence promptly returned, though now it was much more intense. After a long, awkward moment, Emma finally said, "Tea. Drink. Me?"

"Sh-She will, dass wir von ihr trinken!" Jerry said with great enthusiasm, "Was für eine Schlampe! Komm-"

"Sie möchte, dass wir mit ihr Tee trinken," Karl said, and Emma interjected, "Should've known this was stupid."

Sighing, she turned and started to walk away, muttering, "What else is there to do around-"

"Ja- Yes!" Karl yelled, "We'll drink tea. Fine."

Emma turned on the spot, fuming, "So you do speak English, you bloody Kraut!"

Quickly, the loader stomped over to them, fuming, "Suppose there's a lot else I'll learn over a teatime chat about you lot."

Before anyone could object, she set the set down on the front-step of the tank. Jerry said, "Kann ich zuerst aussteigen?"

"Speak English like a proper lad," Emma shot back, and Karl informed, "He can't, and he wants out."

Emma sighed, picking the tea set up again. Quickly, the driver scrambled out, while the loader mused, "Was rather hoping to enlist your help with being in a tank, mind you. Free time and all- don't suppose either of you want to go off into the woods in a bit?"

-Elsewhere

Knock-knock.

Professor Peaches sighed to herself, looking up from the homework she was grading and at the door, then standing up to go get it. It was somewhat surprising, to her, when the student didn't knock again during the walk over- not relieving, but surprising. Finally, though, the teacher got to the door and opened it, and immediately shot, "What do you want?"

"Terribly sorry to disturb you," said the girl who'd disturbed Peaches- Gladys, the same girl who Peaches still considered to have started a fight in her class, mind you- before getting to the point and saying, "But I was rather wondering if I could perhaps negotiate-"

"No," Peaches cut off, "If you want a better grade, then do better work."

"Th-That's not it," Gladys quickly said, "I was wondering about the planned field trip. Ah, specifically, if I and my team could abstain from it."

"No," Peaches answered. Gladys continued, "I-I did say I was wondering if we could negotiate this. Perhaps we could do some other work for you? Menial labor, even-"

"No," Peaches shot, "You were given your assignment, that's final."

"But-"

"Get out of here," Peaches fumed, then slammed the door. She waited a few minutes, for the knock that she thought was inevitable- only to have such a knock not come. At this, the teacher let out a satisfied sigh, thinking more about how she'd bested a discourteous student than how a student had been courteous enough to accept the besting. On the other side of the door, Gladys let out a discontented sigh, the headed away. A few minutes later, she got to Glynda's classroom, and the scenario above played out again in largely the same way, all the way down to it ending with Gladys being defeated by simple apathy yet again.

As she stepped outside, the commander wistfully looked up at the sky, cursing herself mentally, wondering why she was being so effected by such a small thing. For a few long moments, she simply stared up, her neck growing sore as she fixed her gaze on the heavens in frustration. Her mind, naturally, turned to remembering what it had felt like to hold a gun in her hands, to point at a person. The question in her mind seemed as fresh as it had then; should she do it- or, no, should she have done it? Should she pull the trigger, and kill a man in cold blood, staring him in the eyes as the life faded from them?

Her mind's eye conjured a picture of it, of the bullet flying through the air and erupting into Jerry's skull, of the pain hat it would cause and how tragic it would be if the driver didn't come back. She hated Hans, but Gladys didn't have any idea what she would do with herself if Carney disappeared, and she hoped that Hans would be the same. And what of Otto, and Karl, who would also be losing Jerry from their life?

The commander inhaled sharply, but raspily- less a single inhale and more like a series of them, making a sort of shudder-y sound- then turned away from the sky, and towards the headmaster's tower. For a long moment, Gladys did nothing more than stare at it, wondering if she should go back there, and say that she couldn't attend the school. She'd done her best to avoid having to be person-to-person, and it had all failed, and if the time ever came, Gladys knew that she'd fail to fight person-to-person. So it made sense, to her, to simply leave- she couldn't do what was needed, and the teachers needed her to do it.

Finally, the woman sighed, then shook her head. She had worked so hard to get to Beacon and keep her crew in Beacon. If she were to quit, she would never hear the end of it from her crew. And besides that; if she were to quit Beacon, where else could she go? The forest? With a shudder, the commander considered going to the city- then quickly shook her head again. The thought of having to go to the city alone was enough to finally force her to acknowledge that she couldn't simply leave Beacon.

And so she was trapped, between a light who'd flanked and a heavy who she'd rushed a bit too headlong at. If she turned to face the new threat of being completely unprepared for dealing with things in-person, she'd be damned by the original threat of having no purpose in life. To that, the commander simply sighed, then quietly walked off, glancing briefly at the sky again to check the time. The sun was still out, but only just- it was approximately five o'clock, certainly not time for bed. Instead, Gladys would head to the library.

As she walked along the sidewalks, though, she happened upon the two tanks- her dinky little Cruiser IV and the slightly less cute Panzer III, stood still in the open. Quietly, the commander approached her tank, and flopped onto the engine deck, laying on it for a long few moments, eyes shut as she remembered how much better it felt to be in the tank. In the tank, there was an inch of steel... actually, given it was a Cruiser, Gladys suddenly thought that there might not be a full inch of steel, but there was still something between her and the world. In the tank, she was a commander, someone who tempered its martial spirit and directed her crew to fight battles with calm and grace. And now, outside the tank, Gladys knew she was a strange woman who couldn't kill someone when they'd quite literally asked for it. With a sigh, the commander stretched, and suddenly felt a kettle against her fingers, merely moments before she tipped it off in surprise.

"Bloody hell!"

Quickly, Gladys turned over, to hear Emma fuming, "I don't know what kind of a fucking wind-"

"E-Emma?" Gladys murmured. Quickly, she scooched over to the other side of the tank, to find her loader staring right at her, her hair and coat very wet. Quickly, the loader fumed, "Did you do that? You petty little-"

"I-I'm so sorry," Gladys said, "I... I was a coward, a-and I let you die, and..."

She rested her head, the tears of frustration and sadness that she'd been holding back finally coming out at the sight of the person she'd failed.

"Being a crybaby doesn't excuse spilling tea," Emma shot. Gladys nodded, continuing to cry for a few moments before murmuring, "I-I'll m-make another brew... I'm sorry, I..."

She trailed off into more crying, at which Emma sighed, then shot, "Alright, you'll be forgiven when you pour me a cuppa. Not like us dying is a big deal."

Gladys nodded slightly, and after a few more moments, finally managed to stop crying.

-A bit after that, too

"P-Pardon me."

Emma looked up to see her commander standing off to the side, now bearing a full kettle.

"I... ah... s-simply wanted to give my apologies," Gladys continued as she sat down. The little speech stopped, though, as she looked off to the side, where Karl and Jerry were sitting together. Emma informed, "Hadn't much else to do."

Gladys looked back at her a moment, then nodded, "I... I'm quite sorry for that. I should have paid a mind to you... I abandoned my own crew, f-for what..."

She sighed, seeming on the verge of yet more tears, and Emma retorted, "C'mon, have a cup and settle around, until you showed up this was really quite fun."

The commander sniffled, then nodded, "I-I'm sorry."

She sighed, then affirmed, "I... I'll drop the matter, then."

As she started to pour the first cup of tea, Karl shot, "Good. Now, will you confirm what she said?"

Gladys hesitated- in speech, that is, she dutifully continued pouring the tea as needed- then said, "What?"

"These two lucky bastards say they've managed to land themselves a date," Emma explained, "And I was saying that a lady doesn't like it if a man just shows his torpedo about."

"I- n-no. Wh-Why would someone like that?" Gladys said, passing the finally-filled cup to Emma. Karl quickly retorted, "It is the most important part, is it not? Jerry's is impressive, too."

"S-Still no," Gladys said, and Emma informed, "Yeah, this is what it's been like mostly. Forgot you were a prude."

"I- i-it..." Gladys stammered, before sighing and saying, "I-I'll stay for you, at least. Y-You were braver than I was, and... i-if this is your reward, th-then I suppose you should have it."

"Might actually be nice to watch you squirm about," Emma said, then asked, "Hey, mind showing our new guest the special package?"

Gladys bit her lip, already knowing she'd probably made the wrong call.

Author's Note: I would first like to thank General Shepherd and an unnamed guest for giving reviews on what this chapter originally was- that being, a plea for help in confirming that updates to this work were visible. They went above and beyond what I actually expected, and confirmed that chapter fifteen really did release. This may be a bit melodramatic, but I can't thank them enough for what they did.

I will, however, say that the issue still persists somewhat. That everything is visible, I now know, and I can see when new reviews are made and such; but for some reason, the site still seems to think no one has ever seen chapter fifteen, or been on here since Wednesday of last week. I don't know why, and starting now, I'm not going to bother any of you anymore with it. It'll simply be an issue in the background.